few suggestions

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

1) Many questions are repeated in the forum? Why cant the site be redesigned so that before posting a question, once has to compulsarily search if a similar question has been posted earlier?
2) I often see that some people ask for some help in coding and they are asked to try by themselves and ask only for help and not in actual coding. Why cant there be some link(forum) which can help people to get the code required, maybe at some cost?
3) Can Javaranch have "competitions" at regular periods in the same terms as that of "Google Code Jam"?
4) Why cant Javaranch come up with its own "JavaRanch Publication" where in ranchers can contribute by giving articles, best practises, tests and much more?

are these worth thinking about?

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Originally posted by Sripathi Krishnamurthy:
1) Many questions are repeated in the forum? Why cant the site be redesigned so that before posting a question, once has to compulsarily search if a similar question has been posted earlier?

A "compulsory" search sounds awfully annoying. I agree that it would be nice if people used our search function, Google or the JavaRanch FAQ before posting. But the problem is that newbies don't often have the right vocabulary, and so can't formulate a good search query.

2) I often see that some people ask for some help in coding and they are asked to try by themselves and ask only for help and not in actual coding. Why cant there be some link(forum) which can help people to get the code required, maybe at some cost?

That's really against our philosophy of helping people to learn. If someone doesn't want to learn, and just wants a solution, then we're not especially interesting in helping them. They can go hire a consultant!

3) Can Javaranch have "competitions" at regular periods in the same terms as that of "Google Code Jam"?

There was a fellow who tried to start such a thing in the "Programming Diversions" forum once; he didn't get any interest. You're certainly welcome to give it a try if you'd like.

4) Why cant Javaranch come up with its own "JavaRanch Publication" where in ranchers can contribute by giving articles, best practises, tests and much more?

We have one -- the JavaRanch Journal.

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

I know of some sites which have search option as a mandate before anyone posts a question. They give options like fuzzy search, use variants, any word, all words etc. This makes the user trying to post look for possible questions before he can ask the same question again. I guess ServletContext and File upload questions have ben asked more than 10 times.

They can go hire a consultant

This is what I was refering to. I dont think one can find better consultants than Ranchers.

Greed can make people reach heights. . Awards, Certificates, choosing own nick names, appreciation etc can make one charged up to enter the competition. Logic here is to catch a fish by having a bait. But I would like to attend as a participant for the contest rather than organiser. which means I am greedy

I was not aware of the Journal. Thanks for the information.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Originally posted by Sripathi Krishnamurthy:
I know of some sites which have search option as a mandate before anyone posts a question. They give options like fuzzy search, use variants, any word, all words etc. This makes the user trying to post look for possible questions before he can ask the same question again.

That's interesting. Can you give me a link so I can have a look?

[Pradeep bhatt]

http://www.jguru.com if I am not wrong.

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:


That's interesting. Can you give me a link so I can have a look?

I am sorry Ernest. It is a Intranet website and you will not be able to access it without an username and password.

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

Originally posted by Pradeep Bhat:
http://www.jguru.com if I am not wrong.

NO, even JGuru allows to ask questions without asking the user to look for if one already exists.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

As I recall, Jguru does a search when you try and post a question. You can choose to look at the related question or post yours anyway. (This information is old as the last time I was on Jguru was before I joined JavaRanch.)

[Chengwei Lee]

I see a FAQ link on top of the page. But I think its location isn't working that well. Considering many a times people are asking the same stuffs found in the FAQ.

A sticky thread that appears on every page along with other threads would be more "visible".

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

Jeanne and Pradeep,
I double checked today. This is how JGuru works.
1) The user will enter the subject line and description of the question.
2) when he does a submit, it searches the forum based on the subject and description and gets a list of similar questions asked earlier.
3) The user can look at one of those questions or continue to post his question. user has again has to click submit which will make his question posted.

[Mark Spritzler]

You know I like that the same question gets asked many times through the years. It usually takes me 5 times answering the question before I really understand and really learn my answer.

Mark

[Ilja Preuss]

Originally posted by Sripathi Krishnamurthy:
I dont think one can find better consultants than Ranchers.

I'm not sure. Though I think that we have some very bright heads at the Ranch, it seems to me that most of them are more interested in having fun with interesting discussions than in making money from their knowledge.

There once was a site that was build around making money from answering questions. I didn't find it to be a fun place to be. Don't remember the name and am not sure wether it still exists...

I was not aware of the Journal. Thanks for the information.

You are also invited to contribute to http://faq.javaranch.com as much as you like!

[Ilja Preuss]

Originally posted by Sripathi Krishnamurthy:
Jeanne and Pradeep,
I double checked today. This is how JGuru works.
1) The user will enter the subject line and description of the question.
2) when he does a submit, it searches the forum based on the subject and description and gets a list of similar questions asked earlier.
3) The user can look at one of those questions or continue to post his question. user has again has to click submit which will make his question posted.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

If there are very many hits, it might also suggest that the subject line needs to be more specific...

[Shailesh Chandra]

Originally posted by Sripathi Krishnamurthy:

I often see that some people ask for some help in coding and they are asked to try by themselves and ask only for help and not in actual coding.

I would always prefer that one should think about his question before posting it on forum.One should actually try to solve his problem rather someeone else.

In my view if one's problem is solved immediately by giving code, one will not learn any thing from it.He would again struggle with similar kind of problem

I always try to make one think first, followed solution with code


Shailesh

[Chengwei Lee]

Hi Shailesh,

In my view if one's problem is solved immediately by giving code, one will not learn any thing from it.He would again struggle with similar kind of problem

Unfortunately, not many people share the same thoughts as you. Looking around the forums, you would see many posts seeking for complete source codes & people replying to them.

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

Originally posted by Shailesh Chandra:

I would always prefer that one should think about his question before posting it on forum.One should actually try to solve his problem rather someeone else.

Accepted. I do feel the same if some developer is posting a question.
But I am hinting about a new forum which can give professional services. This new forum will(can) be for a person(a client) who wants some application for which he will be the owner. He may not be knowing anything about developing an application. But he might get it done by a bunch of Ranchers.

[Jeroen Wenting]

Many of us are for hire for an appropriate fee (say �150 an hour). But I don't think most of us will give people their homework for free (which is what such a place would quickly become).

[Ilja Preuss]

Originally posted by Sripathi Krishnamurthy:

This new forum will(can) be for a person(a client) who wants some application for which he will be the owner. He may not be knowing anything about developing an application. But he might get it done by a bunch of Ranchers.

How would that forum differ from "Jobs Offered"?

[Shailesh Chandra]

Originally posted by Chengwei Lee:

Unfortunately, not many people share the same thoughts as you. Looking around the forums, you would see many posts seeking for complete source codes & people replying to them

very much true but this is part of chain and sometimes we are also part of this


Shailesh

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

Originally posted by Ilja Preuss:


How would that forum differ from "Jobs Offered"?

As I see it, "Jobs Offered" is for people who are looking at joining new companies, taking new assignments etc. They may have to relocate in case they get a position which satisfies their requirements.

But this new forum is for providing professional consultation for some application development. Ranchers can remotely work and do the job. It can be part-time too.

Forum can work this way,
1) A person(client) will post his requirement in the forum. He has to provide the basic requirement for the application, how much is he willing to pay for the job, what is the time frame that he expects the job to be done, what technologies have to be used etc etc.
2) Ranchers can reply by showing their willingness if interested and bid for the same.
3) Client can choose the preferred person for his job to be done.

[Jeroen Wenting]

Isn't that what the URGENT!!! forum is for?

[Sonny Gill]

Originally posted by Sripathi Krishnamurthy:


But this new forum is for providing professional consultation for some application development.
....

Arent there like a million job sites, and 'rent a coder' sites out there, trying to do the same?

[Pradeep bhatt]

When someone clicks the "Post New Topic" button why not ask them to do a search before they post ? They could either search or decide to post a new topic.

[Sripathi Krishnamurthy]

Originally posted by Sonny Gill:


Arent there like a million job sites, and 'rent a coder' sites out there, trying to do the same?

After reading all the posts above, I dont know if this is a idea worth considering. But still I dont find any harm in a forum which can be used for consultation for professional services from Ranchers.

[Jeroen Wenting]

Wrong place for your post?
But let me answer: those who are too lazy to do their own research will just ignore the hint.

[Paul Bourdeaux]

I am not a big fan of the compulsory searches, or even the fuzzy logic searches that try to match your question with existing ones. I believe that they discourage new posts (that's why they were designed, right?). When I am in the forums, if I see a topic that has been discussed before, I suggest that the poster do a search... but still encourage them to continue the discussion in the thread they posted. I have two reasons for this:

1) It is annoying and time consuming to have to read a post with 100+ replies. More often than not, I will just skip to the last couple of pages and read the final consensus. Unfortunately, this can result in my missing out on meaningful discussion somewhere in the middle of the thread. The only people to really benefit from a long thread are the ones who have been with it from its inception, and those with enough time on their hands to read it all (especially difficult for our friends who struggle with English).

2) Some forums, the professional certification forums for example, have a high turn over rate among the people who frequent it, and the information/opinions can change with time. By encouraging new discussions it allows the current forum contributors to actively engage in the conversation. This not only brings new ideas to the table, but also helps facilitate learning for the current contributors.